The Beast (Harry Styles)

Chapter Twenty-One: Part Two

John and Adeline have things to discuss

But what will they be? Is it truly a must?

Things have happened, and Adeline is unaware,

Not for long though, as there's an end to this affair. . .

~.~

"What is there to talk about, really? When all there is left to us as humans are our names," John started with his riddles.

Both him and Adeline sat in the grass, a tension filling all the air around them. It made the open cliff feel tightly compacted, and Adeline suddenly felt claustrophobic.

Sitting in the grass, her head pounding from a mixture of her previous thinking and John's presence, Adeline carefully took in his words. They were true: what did we have left after everything was gone?

"There are our morals and the ability to be a better person by kind actions," she concluded aloud. "There is the hope that we will get everything we lost back, and we act upon that hope." Adeline let the words flow out; they felt natural and real.

"We have everything that the material world tried to strip us of, but we managed to keep through the fires that tear through our souls in a rapture-like manner, and-"

"Yeah, yeah," John cut Adeline off. "But there's also revenge."

The love emanating from that single world was the most adoring thing Adeline had ever heard John say.

"Revenge is a terrible thing to get involved in," Adeline said. It was unsettling to her that John felt so strongly about the use of revenge.

"Not if it isn't outright," he replied cryptically looking down at his nails.

"Outright?"

"Yes, outright." John sighed and looked towards Adeline. "Some people swear vengeance publicly and right in front of the person they plan to destroy." He snorted. "Those idiots! Why would you make it obvious you're trying to get revenge?

"The best revenge is slow, but not slow enough that you'll forget why you're angry," John began to explain. His eyes glittered as though he were talking about a new toy he wanted and not about ruining someone's life.

"It's not only going to strip them of their wealth, but of their pride and dignity." John's lips twitched until they formed a full smile.

"You'll watch them crumble, their foundation falling brick by agonizing brick until there's nothing left to them but the name they once cherished so dearly, one that they betrayed their own family to keep pure."

The hostility in John's words and the anger covering his eyes scared Adeline, but there was nothing she could do: she feared if she tried to leave him in this state, he might hurt her.

"Then you laugh. You laugh because the pain coming from your cramping sides is nothing compared to the pain they've given you by abandoning you; by leaving their own son! Giving up on your only family!"John met Adeline's eyes. "How could you have done this to me? I thought you loved me; you were supposed to love me." Tears left John's eyes as his fists clenched and his jaw locked.

The words were forceful, and between that and his increasing, rapid breathing, Adeline realized she would soon face the wrath of a newly unleashed monster, one locked away in the deepest part of John's mind. He was vulnerable; but his vulnerability did not produce a damned love like Harry's did. John's created calamity that took form as a storm without an eye.

Unfortunately for Adeline, she happened to be the person closest to the hurricane.

"It's okay," Adeline attempted to reassure John. She chose her wording carefully, knowing his fragile state of mind would take the simplest and most innocent line for an insult or attack on him. "They love you; they'll always love you." Adeline reached out to touch John's hand, but he recoiled and shot to his feet.